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NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, or NASCAR, is a racing organization sanctioning a form of automobile racing known as "stock car" racing. Initially a production sedan series, NASCAR has since evolved into a spec sedan series criticized for being far from stock and for "going around in circles" (although NASCAR does use road courses Watkins Glen and Sonoma Raceway). Origins During the Prohibition era, bootleggers would hot rod cars in order to escape the country with their booze. Hot rodding would dramatically grow in popularity, and in 1949 the Strictly Stock Series was born. As the name implied, the series strictly forbade modifications to any entered vehicle (although some cars were modified specials, now replicated by the Lucas Oil Legends Series). Golden Era The "golden era" of NASCAR can be considered to be 1949-1970, in which every American manufacturer (and occasionally foreign sports cars, likely only on road courses) participated. This era brought famous names like Petty, Fireball Roberts, Andretti, Fittipaldi, and Donohue. This era was also dominated by the displacement wars, in which (because engines had to be stock in order to be entered) the Big Three battled for dominance by introducing increasingly larger engines, approaching eight liters by the end. This era also brought about many aerodynamic enhancements, including the radical Dodge Daytona. In order to be considered a "production car", at least five hundred units had to be manufactured, and so Dodge made five hundred, dubbing the vehicle the "Daytona 500", after the famous race in Florida. Ford applied its "500" badge to its Ford Talladega naming it after the famous Talladega 500 race in Alabama. Silver Era In the seventies demand for performance sedans began to dwindle as people began to consider engines of seven liters dispalcement ludicrous. The OPEC Oil Embargo of 1973 was the final nail in the coffin, and after less than twenty-five years, NASCAR had to adapt, and gradually allowed more and more modifications, mostly for safety purposes. This era would also see a purchase by Winston Tobacco Company, who would sponsor the series for over thirty years. Bronze Age From 1980-1992 NASCAR evovled into spec sedans barely resembling their production counterparts. The Buick Grand National is based upon the Winston Cup Series Buick of that year. After 1992, Oldsmobile would withdraw from the series, leaving only three brands: Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Ford. Riverside International Raceway would close by the end of the eighties, leaving NASCAR without a western road course. Sears Point International Raceway in Sonoma, California, was chosen to replace it. Due to certain turns being too tight for the NASCAR sedans to handle, a special configuration was created for NASCAR events. Iron Age From 1993-2000, NASCAR was limited to only three brands, and went into a mediocre era. Modern Age In 2001 the modern age began, with Dodge replacing Pontiac and Nextel replacing Winston as primary sponsor. NASCAR also banned the advertisement of tobacco products. NASCAR has since attempted to redesign its vehicles, at one time including actual wings instead of the small metal plates usually found on NASCAR sedans. For 2013, NASCAR vehicles were redesigned to more resemble their production counterparts (although still far from stock). Unfortunately, Dodge has withdrawn. Controversially, Toyota was added to NASCAR. The "excuse" was initially that some Toyotas are built in Indiana and therefore abided by the rules of "no foreign built" cars. Incidentally, such NASCAR vehicles as the Chevrolet Monte Carlo are built in Canada. Also, NASCAR sedans today are team built and have been for many years, making the rule potentially obsolete. A major note in the modern era is that many road racers, seeking more money, have switched over to NASCAR. These include IndyCar Series champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Stewart, Formula One champion Juan Pablo Montoya, V8 Supercars driver Marcos Ambrose, IndyCar driver Danica Patrick, and several others. These former road racers are often reserved for Watkins Glen and Sonoma. Many NASCAR drivers, however, do compete in road racing occasionally, most notably at the 24 Hours of Daytona. The NASCAR careers of these former road racers have greatly overshadowed their former road racing careers to the point where most fans fail to remember that they competed in anything else, most notably Tony Stewart. NASCAR driver AJ Allmendinger has since returned to IndyCar and Montoya returned this yerar (having previously competed in Champ Car). Criticism NASCAR has for many years been subject to criticism. *Its cars do not in any way resemble their stock counterparts or even production cars at all *They use caution periods to help fan favorites or specific drivers win, ordering them them in order to manipulate the races in favor of those drivers even when no caution was necessary *They use unsophisticated oval circuits 95% of the time *Their massive popularity has led to their receiving the most media attention amongst any automobile racing series in the US to the point where any other form of motorsport is unknown to many Americans. *Their vehicles use obsolete, cast-iron carbureted V8s which greatly pollute the atmosphere. This is made possible by the fact that NASCAR's emissions are not regulated by the EPA. *NASCAR has no penalty for avoidable contact and even encourages its drivers to hit eachother. Trucks NASCAR also fields a pickup-based support series known as the Camping World Truck Series, in which pickups loosely based on production trucks are used on the same courses. For many years, the series was sponsored by Craftsman tools. The series was established in 1995. Other Series NASCAR also features the Nationwide Series, sponsored by Nationwide insurance. It acts as a support series, and was previously sponsored by Anheuser-Bush. The series was established in 1982. Tribute Past eras of NASCAR have been tributed at the Monterey Historic Automobile Races at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and the Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival at Sonoma Raceway. Sonoma's formerly-regular race group featured 1949-1970 stock cars, but was dropped after a reformatting around the year 2010. Grand National race groups have since featured 1962-1972 despite ther series being renamed the Winston Cup Series in 1971. Laguna Seca has tributed 1962-1972 stock cars as well as a 1970s-1980s Winston Cup Series group, strangely focusing on cars with disc brakes. Category:NASCAR Category:Racing Series